Although many people see President Trump as the most anti-immigrant President in recent history, to others, he is not anti-immigrant enough.

In a memo issued on June 15, 2017, DHS Secretary John Kelley rescinded the Obama Administration's memorandum expanding the DACA program and creating the DAPA program for certain parents of US citizens. However, the memo declared that the original DACA program created in 2012 for children who were brought to the US at a young age by their parents “will remain in place”.

On June 29, the Attorneys General of Texas and 9 other states (Arkansas, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia) sent a letter to US Attorney General Jeff Sessions threatening to bring an action in Federal Court to declare that the DACA program is unconstitutional unless the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) phases out the program.

[sc name="Review Block" image="/images/photo6.gif" title="Know Their Job Well And Perform It Flawlessly" review="Don’t do the mistake we did and try to save few bucks going with nonprofessionals and sole practitioners! It will end up not only costing you much more in the long run, but also putting your status in jeopardy which can have a priceless impact. It is one of the most important steps in your life." reviewer="- Sgt. Danny Lightfoot, Los Angeles, California"]

The letter demands that DHS rescind the 2012 memorandum which created DACA, and not renew or issue any DACA permits in the future. If DHS does so by September 5, the letter states that the plaintiffs will voluntarily dismiss their lawsuit.

However, if the DHS does not do so, the letter states that the complaint challenging DAPA and the expanded DACA program in Texas v. United States will be amended to include the existing DACA program.

Both the DAPA and expanded DACA programs have been enjoined by the Federal Courts. The Supreme Court has remanded the case to the District Court Judge in Texas to rule on the merits of the case.

The bottom line is that these 10 Attorney Generals want the DACA program to be abolished thereby making the nearly 800,000 Dreamers who benefit from DACA undocumented aliens once again, subject to deportation.

How did Attorney General Sessions react to the threatening letter? Was he offended?

Apparently not.

On “Fox and Friends”, Sessions stated: “… I like it that our states and localities are holding our federal government to account, expecting us to do what is our responsibility to the state and locals, and that’s to enforce the law.”

Will President Trump cave in and end the DACA program? If he does, Dreamers will be an easy target for DHS to deport since the government has each of their addresses.

President Trump wasted no time in signing a number of executive orders which concern our country’s immigration policies.

Today, he signed 2 executive orders, one of which authorizes the building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and another which would curb Federal funding to sanctuary cities across the country.

The President called for the hiring of 5,000 additional border agents and another 10,000 immigration officers. He is also reinstating the Secure Communities program which was ended by President Obama. This program requires local law enforcement agencies to share fingerprint and other arrest data with the DHS.In addition, federal agencies such as the IRS and the Social Security Administration will be required to share information regarding unauthorized immigrants with the DHS.

The number of persons incarcerated in immigration detention centers will be greatly increased from the present population of 34,000.

Tomorrow, President Trump is expected to sign another executive order, one which will temporarily halt refugee resettlement in the US and prevent persons from 7 Middle Eastern countries from entering the US with green cards or temporary visas.

The 7 countries are Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The ban will last at least 30 days and could be imposed permanently if the governments of these countries do not comply with certain DHS and State Department requirements. The ban applies not only to tourists, students and temporary workers, but also to permanent residents of the US. It does not apply to persons from these countries who have become US citizens. Nor does it apply to citizens of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.

Tomorrow’s executive order will also impose an indefinite ban on Syrian refugees coming to the US as well as a 120-day ban on refugees from other countries. When the US begins accepting refugees again, the number will be reduced by over 50%.

Christians and other religious minorities from Moslem countries will be given priority for refugee status.

Under the new regulations, the USCIS will no longer be required to adjudicate requests for EADs within 90 days. However, persons with existing EADs will be able to apply for extensions of their work permits 180 days (up from 120 days) before they expire.

The regulation designates the following 15 categories where people will be eligible for automatic 180-day extensions of their EADs as long as they submit timely requests to extend their EADs:

1 Aliens admitted as refugees;
2 Aliens granted asylum;
3 Aliens admitted as parents or dependent children of aliens granted permanent residence under section 101(a)(27)(I) of the INA;
4 Aliens admitted as citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, or Palau;
5 Aliens granted withholding of deportation or removal;
6 Aliens granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS);
7 Aliens who have properly filed applications for TPS and who have been deemed prima facie eligible for TPS and have received an EAD as a “temporary treatment benefit”;
8 Aliens who have properly filed applications for asylum or withholding of deportation or removal;
9 Aliens who have filed applications for adjustment of status under section 245(a) of the INA;
10 Aliens who have filed applications for suspension of deportation under Section 244 of the INA, cancellation of removal under section 240A of the INA, or special rule cancellation of removal under section 309(f)(1) IIRAIRA;
11 Aliens who have filed applications for creation of a record of lawful admission for permanent residence;
12 Aliens who have properly filed legalization applications pursuant to section 210 of the INA;
13 Aliens who have properly filed legalization applications pursuant to section 245A of the INA;
14 Aliens who have filed applications for adjustment of status pursuant to section 1104 of the LIFE Act; and
15 Aliens who are the principal beneficiaries or qualified children of approved VAWA self-petitioners.

The rule does nothing to assist first-time applicants for EADs, nor does it permit automatic extensions of Advance Parole.

Many persons, such as spouses of nonimmigrants (L-2s, H-4s, etc.) are ineligible for automatic extensions of their EADs.

The automatic EAD extension portion of the regulation is more complicated than this summary of the rule would indicate. Small employers without the resources to regularly check the USCIS website or consult with immigration lawyers may find it burdensome to comply with the I-9 requirements that this rule will entail.

It is recommended that persons with EADs should submit applications for extensions of their EADs and Advance Paroles 180 days before the expiration date to protect their ability to work and travel without interruption. Doing so will also aid their employers.

On December 9, 2016, a bipartisan group of Senators introduced the Bridge Act which would protect 740,000 DACA recipients from deportation and allow them to continue working and studying in the United States for the next 3 years.

Like DACA, the bill does not provide a path to green cards for Dreamers. Instead, the bill would grant them “provisional protected presence” in the US. They would be allowed to remain in the US, renew their EAD work permits and, in some circumstances, qualify for Advance Parole international travel permits.

Since President-Elect Trump has vowed to repeal President Obama’s executive orders, the bill, if enacted, would protect Dreamers from deportation for another 3 years unless they commit a deportable offense.

The bill would also tighten the confidentiality provisions in the law. DACA requires applicants to reveal their addresses and other personal information. The bill would prohibit the government from using this information to try to deport DACA recipients or their parents.

Although the bill is sponsored by a bipartisan group of Democratic and Republican Senators, it is unclear whether it has enough support to pass the Republican-controlled Senate and the House of Representatives.

The introduction of the Bridge Act is expected to put pressure on President-Elect Trump to work out a solution to the immigration status of the Dreamers.

Trump has been equivocal about how he intends to treat the Dreamers.

On one hand, he has pledged to repeal DACA. However, in a recent interview with Time magazine, he stated:

“We’re going to work something out that’s going to make people happy and proud. But that’s a very tough situation. They got brought here at a very young age, they’ve worked here, they’ve gone to school here. Some were good students. Some have wonderful jobs. And they’re in never-never land because they don’t know what’s going to happen.”

While the steepest increases will be for EB-5 investors and regional centers, filing fees for commonly-used applications and petitions will also be raised.

• US Citizenship

Want to become a US citizen through naturalization? The price for filing an N-400 form (which used to be $15 when I was an INS Citizenship Attorney) is slated to rise from $595 to $640.

However, there will be a new partial fee waiver for N-400s filed by qualified low-income individuals.

Do you have foreign-born children who either acquired US citizenship through you at birth or derived citizenship as minors? I hope you are sitting down while you are reading this. The filing fees for forms N-600 and N-600K will almost double, from $600 to $1,170!